Paranormal Underground Radio: Duncan Lunan (Author of Children From the Sky)




Paranormal Underground Radio show

Summary: Visit us at www.paranormalunderground.net! In this episode of Paranormal Underground Radio, we talk with Duncan Lunan, the author of Children From the Sky, www.childrenfromthesky.com, a speculative investigation into one of the Middle Ages' more enduring enigmas, that of the green children of Woolpit. Duncan has been researching the story for 18 years, and has uncovered a wealth of new information, including the revelation that the descendants of the green girl are still alive. <br> <br> Duncan was born in October 1945, and grew up in Troon, Ayrshire, attending Marr College and Glasgow University. He is an M.A. with Honours in English and Philosophy, with Physics, Astronomy and French as supporting subjects, and has a post­grad­uate Diploma in Education. <br> <br> As Manager of the Glasgow Parks Dept. Astronomy Project, 1978-79, Duncan designed and built the first astronomically aligned stone circle in Britain for over 3000 years. In 1990-91 he was Photo-archivist of the Press Centre for Glasgow as European City of Culture, but otherwise since 1970 he has been a full-time author with emphasis on astro­nomy, spaceflight and science fiction, undertaking a wide range of writing and speaking on those and other topics as a researcher, tutor, critic, editor, lecturer and broadcaster. His other interests include ancient and mediaeval history, jazz, folk music and hillwalking, and he ran folk song clubs in Ayrshire for 16 years 1965-1981. <br> <br> Duncan is the author of “Man and the Stars” (1974), “New Worlds for Old” (1979), “Man and the Planets” (1983), in 1989 he edited “Starfield, Science fiction by Scottish Writers”, "Children from the Sky" (2012) and "With Time Comes Concord" (2012). He has contributed to 20 other books, and published over 750 articles and 32 stories including ten for the comic strip ‘Lance McLane’, created by Sydney Jordan. He was sci­ence fiction critic of the Glasgow Herald 1971-85, ran the paper’s annual SF short story competition 1986-92, and founded the Glasgow SF Writers’ Circle in 1986 (still going strong). Currently he reviews SF and fantasy for Interzone and Concatenation. His monthly astronomy and space column ‘The Sky Above You’ has appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines since 1983 and is currently on the website of Astronomers of the Future (see below) as well as appearing three times yearly in Jeff Hawke’s Cosmos, for which he also writes notes on the stories in the classic SF comic strip as the magazine reprints them. <br> <br> Duncan has been a Council Member of ASTRA, the Association in Scotland to Research into Astronautics, from 1963 to 2010, serving at various times as President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer, and on the Publications, Exhibitions and Waverider committees. He was a Curator of Airdrie Public Observatory 1980-81, 1987-97 and 2002-2008, and in 2006-2009 he ran an outreach educational project from the Observatory to schools, funded by the National Lottery. He has since left ASTRA and concentrates most of his time on new projects. <br> <br> In 2010 Duncan married Linda, and live in Duncan's home town Troon. Together they founded Astronomers of the Future Ltd, an astronomy and space education company,that also has a society for beginners  and the <a href="http://www.sighthillstonecircle.net/friendsofthestonecircle.asp">Friends of the Sighthill Stone Circle</a>, who aim to complete and renovate the Sighthill stone circle, making it a local and tourist attraction as originally intended. <br> <br> Duncan’s book “Children from the Sky, a speculative treatment of a mediaeval mystery – the Green Children of Woolpit”, be published by Mutus Liber can be purchased from Amazon, Waterstones, and some local booksellers. He has signed  contracts to tell the story of the Sighthill stone circle in “The Stones and the Stars, a new stone circle for Scotland”, and for “Incoming Asteroid!   What co